Chapter Twelve: Your Best Nightmare

I hummed as I watered my garden. I tried not to think of how Sans must be judging the human, at this very moment. I tried not to think of what kind of child they were, what reason they could possibly have to come to this mountain. Humans knew the legend, as well as we did, so why? What drew them here like so many moths to a flame? Tiny, fragile moths…

No. I could not think such things! No matter how it crushed my SOUL, I had a duty to my people. It was my weakness as a leader that got us trapped here, after the war. I would free us. I had to free us, no matter the cost to myself.

I heard a soft sound behind me. I forced myself to speak cheerfully. "Oh? Is someone there? Just a moment! I've almost finished watering these flowers." I emptied the watering can in my hands, then turned to face my visitor.

"Howdy! How can I…" I saw that it was the human and I couldn't finish my own sentence. My fingers went numb with shock and I dropped my watering can. It clattered on the ground and I struggled to pull myself together. "Oh. I… was not expecting you so soon…" I did my best to smile, but I knew it was a pitiful attempt. "I so badly want to say 'would you like a cup of tea?' But, you know how it is."

They said nothing, a somber expression upon their face. I looked up at the skylight. "Such a nice day, is it not? The birds are singing, the flowers are blooming… Perfect weather for a game of catch." I could not keep smiling, anymore. I looked back down at the human and said, with great reluctance, "You know what we must do. When you are ready, come to the next room."

I left my throne room, and the human followed me shortly afterward. Before I could tell them to think of this as a trip to the dentist, they asked me something.

"Your Majesty, is this truly the only way? Is there no way I could use my soul to help you break the barrier without killing me?"

I shook my head. "Not unless you are a magician. Only a magical attack from the SOUL will affect the barrier. I do not suppose you…?" I trailed off as they shook their head, with as much regret as I felt. I could only sigh. "I was afraid so. None of the others were, either…" This never got any easier. I told them I would understand if they were not ready.

Neither was I.

I stepped through the archway, to the barrier. It took me a moment to notice that the human did not immediately follow, but they soon appeared. As the twilight shone through the barrier I told them they could attend to any unfinished business, if they wished.

They said they had nothing left to do, so I turned to face them. I summoned the canisters with the six human SOULs we had… and the one that was empty. I began the FIGHT and I saw that their SOUL was red. The same color as my trident, the symbol of my determination to do my duty to the people. The same color of the SOUL that they had…

I gave them a weak smile. "Human… It was nice to meet you. Goodbye." I could no longer look at them as I summoned my weapon and destroyed their Mercy.

The human chose to Act, instead. They quietly said, "I don't want to fight you, Your Majesty…" They sounded so young, so scared… My hands trembled even as I swept them through the air to summon my fireballs. They dodged most, if not all of them.

They Acted again. They firmly said, "I don't want to fight you!" My breath caught in my chest, but I still sent chains of flame snaking their way.

Still, they only chose to Act… "Asgore, we have to STOP fighting!" Those words were so familiar it struck my SOUL like a hammer. Even as I attacked with my trident, I remembered. Tori had said that, just before she left… The human tried to Act one more time, but I stopped them.

"ENOUGH! That is enough! Human, this is difficult enough as it is, so just please…" I did not know how I could finish my own sentence and trailed off lamely.

Their health was low, but they pulled a slice of butterscotch cinnamon pie from their satchel. The smell of it made my heart ache. This human had done just about everything they could to destroy my will to fight and as they wielded an old, burnt frying pan I saw that they were finally ready to fight back.

They were clumsy, at first. It was as though they had never fought like this, before. That this child could make it all the way here, without ever launching a single attack, amazed me.

But they were learning fast. Not just how to attack, but how to dodge my attacks, as well. It was almost like sparring with Undyne, but this was no practice bout. I did not bother dodging them because if they were determined enough to take my life… I would give it to them. I felt I owed it to them, even if it left my people bereft of a leader…

Well, at least they would still have Tori, wherever she was. She was always a better leader than I.

The human was not healing themselves, anymore. They probably could not. Even so, there was no defeat in their expression and their attacks were odd. Even though they were striking me, I saw and felt none of the anger or hate in their gaze I had seen in other humans during the war. There was just… focus. That was the only thing I could see in those oddly-colored eyes. It was almost as though I was fighting my son, teaching him how to use his magic for the first time…

I had thought my will to fight could not crumble any further. I was wrong. This child kept filling me with so many memories, so much heartache! Their blows did more and more damage, but I could take far more than they. I drove my trident through their body and claimed the last of their HP. Their expression as they died was odd, but I had no time to ponder. I was sickened by my own lack of sympathy, but I had to take their SOUL and end this, once and for all…

As I reached for it, it broke in half and shattered! It broke apart just like a Boss Monster's when they died! How could this be!? Human SOULs had never done this, even during the war! The only reason we could not claim any back then was because the surviving humans prevented us from doing so. It was like some cruel joke to see all those SOULs upon the battlefield, only for them to be out of our reach, forever…

I could not understand. I just could not-

Twilight shone through the barrier as I stood before it, waiting for the human to follow me. I would not blame them if they chose to simply run. If the Underground were big enough they could run forever if they wished, but it was not. Yet as I waited, I had the vague feeling I had already been here… but I dismissed it as being silly. Of course I had been here, before! I've stood here on six other occasions, waiting for the other humans and ended their lives. There was soon going to be a seventh…

Asgore killed me, so I went back to MTT Resort for more food. He was tough! His flame attacks, while similar to Mother's, were more intense and harder to dodge that hers had been. It made me appreciate how much she had held back, when she fought me…

I didn't like that I was being forced to attack him, but I was growing more confident that I could hold myself back enough to where I wouldn't kill him. That wasn't my goal, after all. I had almost gotten through to him, before he stopped listening to me. I just had to be more determined to spare him than he was to kill me, no matter what he did to my Mercy option.

I now knew who the voice in the dark belonged to. It was Asgore's, although I had no idea why I was hearing him encouraging me to not give up whenever I died. Or how he knew my name, since he understandably never bothered asking for it. But then again it sounded a little strange whenever my name was said… Like someone else was trying to talk over Asgore to say my name, but in a reasonable facsimile of his voice. I couldn't make out whose name he was originally trying to say...

I tried to put it out of my mind as I went back to face him (after saving so I didn't lose my purchases). I conducted the opening phases as I had before, except I didn't bother trying to talk to him a fourth time. He didn't seem to remember killing me, as I expected.

I managed to get farther into the fight but he wasn't giving up. Even as my blows hit him harder and harder he didn't relent, and neither did I. He killed me a second time, but not before I got him down to almost one third of his health. I was close, I KNEW I was, and I didn't need encouragement from the dark to help me come back. This would be the one…

I did it. I was singed all over and bruised, but I did it. I held back just enough so that he only had a sliver of health left and he fell to one knee. We were both exhausted, but he still had the energy to speak.

"Ah… So that is how it is." He looked so sad as he said, "I remember the day my son died. The entire underground was devoid of hope. Humans had once again stolen our future. In my anger and grief, I declared war and vowed to destroy any human that came here. I would use their SOULs to become godlike, free us from this prison and destroy humanity. Then we could live on the surface in peace… The people's hope returned, but my wife was disgusted with my actions. She left, and I never saw her again…"

He bowed his head. "Truthfully, I do not want power. I never wanted to hurt anyone. I just wanted to give people hope, but… I cannot take this any longer." His voice broke as he said, "I just want to see my wife… I want to see our children..." He finally looked me in the eyes and said, "Please, young one, this war has gone on long enough. Take my SOUL, and leave this accursed place."

While he'd been talking, something warm had been building in my soul. My right hand tingled, and when I was given a choice Mercy was at my fingertips. It looked a little worse-for-wear, like me, but it was working.

Asgore looked at me in amazement. "After everything I've done to hurt you, to hurt the other humans, you would rather stay down here and suffer than live happily on the surface?"

I put my hands on my hips and firmly told him, "I never wanted to leave in the first place! I only came here to kick some sense into you and make you stop killing humans." I grinned. "I'd say I've done just that, wouldn't you?"

Asgore stared at me and I let my expression sober. "But even though I don't want to leave, I don't want to keep you people trapped here, either. There has to be a way to break the barrier without me having to die! You said only magic would affect it. Well, I'm not a magician, but I think… Let's just say I wouldn't have made it this far if something extraordinary wasn't happening. Maybe that can be utilized, somehow, if I can understand it better."

I extended my hand. "So please, Your Majesty. Let's figure this out and free everybody, together."

The king looked like he was about to cry. He didn't take my hand, but he smiled. "Yes… Yes, let us work together! Human, I promise you. For as long as you remain here my wife and I will care for you the best we can. We can sit in the living room sharing stories, and eat butterscotch pie. We… We could be like a family."

I smiled. "That sounds lovely, Your Majesty."

One minute, we were smiling at each other. The next, everything went wrong.

Asgore became caged by familiar, white pellets. I cried out, tried to go to him, tried to do something. I didn't know what I could have done, but it didn't matter. Whatever the fight utilized to trap me wouldn't let me go. I watched helplessly as the pellets bombarded the king, claiming the last of his HP. He looked stunned as he turned to dust. His crown, armor and mantle were all that was left of him. The rest was just gone… except for his soul. An upside-down heart, glowing white…

Then, I noticed one of the pellets was still lingering nearby.

"Don't do it! PLEASE!"

It was no use. The pellet hit Asgore's soul, shattering it. As I fell to my knees a familiar little flower appeared.

"You IDIOT. You haven't learned a thing." The six human souls appeared, circling around Flowey as he continued to speak. "In this world it's KILL or BE killed." He laughed as the souls circled closer and closer, letting out a blinding light as they became one with him…

Utter darkness. I felt as though a floor was under my feet, but I saw nothing. Nothing but my own body. Some corner of my mind shouted *How can I see myself without any light!?, but that didn't matter. I had to do something, anything. I had to move, even though my head was trying to detach itself and it was hard to breathe again. I thought I heard heartbeat-like beeping and checked my crystalphone, but there was nothing.

One foot in front of the other. Baby steps became longer as the "floor" proved to be solid. I broke out into a run when I saw a star glimmer in the distance. I held a hand to it, begging it from the depths of my soul to take me back like it always had before, but something was wrong…

I couldn't "feel" anything from it. I wasn't determined, I couldn't "save", I couldn't do anything. All I could see before my eyes was Flowey's name…

Crash.

The floor beneath the star cracked, glowing red along the fractures. I backed away as something was trying to come up through the floor, breaking it more and more and more until… something came up through the floor to grab the star.

It was a multitude of thorny vines forming an arm. Longer thorns grew from mitten-like hands to serve as fingers, threatening to shred my star. The arm retreated back into the floor with the star, and the floor turned black again as though it was never fractured.

Flowey's face appeared before me, but it was almost like he was being magnified by something. There was also something grainy about his visage, like what I'd seen on the screen Alphys used to watch me on. His voice when he spoke was also magnified, echoing strangely through the dark.

"Howdy! It's me, Flowey the Flower! Boy, do I owe you a HUGE thanks. I never would have gotten past that old fool if YOU hadn't softened him up for me." His face morphed into Asgore's as he said, "But now, with YOUR help, he's DEAD. And now I have the SOULs!"

He made Asgore's face melt as he laughed, then he went back to normal. "Boy, I've been empty for so long! It feels great to have a SOUL inside me, again. Mmmm, I can feel them wriggling…"

I felt disgusted. He looked down at me with false pity. "Awww, do you feel left out? That's perfect. There's only six SOULs in here, after all. I still need a seventh before I become GOD. Then I'll show everyone the REAL meaning of this world!"

He laughed again. "Forget trying to escape. I've already destroyed your save file. It's gone FOREVER. But don't worry. Your old friend Flowey has a replacement for you! I'll save over your death so you can feel yourself being torn to bloody pieces over, and over, and over…"

I found the strength from somewhere to shout, "No, no you won't! I'm going to stop you!"

"…what? You think you can stop ME? Hee hee hee… You really ARE an idiot."

Flowey disappeared. Something heavy was dragging itself through the dark toward me. Arms like the one I had seen before snaked into my view, connected to an… indescribable body. Flowey's face appeared again, with an even more demented smile than before. His eyes widened, turning red and green before his laughter nearly burst my eardrums with its volume.

The state Flowey's body was in... I didn't have time to comprehend it before he began attacking. I barely saw the words "FILE SAVED" through the utter chaos. Vines were appearing out of nowhere, bombs fell upon my head and exploded, pellets flew in complex patterns, and venus fly traps had hordes of flies flying into them…

Everything was happening all at once. Nothing made sense. There was no rhyme or reason, no taking turns. I could barely see the option to "fight" through everything but even when I pressed it, it did hardly anything…

I couldn't give up. My HP was getting lower and lower, and I was on the verge of death when Flowey suddenly stilled. His attacks halted and I saw the cyan soul on the screen that served as his face before… something happened.

Flowey was gone. There were nothing but toy knives made of magic, spinning and sliding all around me. I could dodge around them, barely… But my heart leapt when I saw an "Act" button. I just barely managed to reach for it and only had the barest sliver of health left as I called out into the dark.

"I know you don't want to be here, but I need your help! PLEASE! I can't beat him on my own!"

For a moment, I thought nothing would happen… but something changed. The knives became green magic shaped like little bandages. I gathered up as many as I could, thanking the patient soul for answering my plea.

Another moment of disorientation and I stood before Flowey, again. I saw that one of his… "petals" was duller. Was he missing that soul? I didn't have time to ponder because more chaos was all that Flowey had in store for me. Attacks that made no sense were becoming the norm…

I died. I heard Asgore's voice telling me it was all just a bad dream… but Flowey took over, saying that I would never wake up. He brought me back, saying he'd never be satisfied with killing me once. But his one petal was still dull! That gave me hope. All I had to do was survive, and I could do that. I lost count of how many times he killed me, but it didn't matter. I was determined to survive.

I asked the orange soul for help. Their bravery gave me the strength to stand up to the overgrown bully.

I asked the blue soul for help. Their integrity helped me to keep doing the right thing.

I asked the purple soul for help. Their encouragement gave me the strength to persevere.

I asked the green soul for help. Their kindness warmed my heart.

I asked the yellow soul for help. They helped me to stay just, no matter how unfair the rest of the universe was being.

After calling out to the last soul, I didn't immediately go back to Flowey. It was just me, until the souls started circling me. They healed me with their magic, and I thanked them from the bottom of my heart before they disappeared.

I stood before Flowey. All of his petals were dulled. He didn't seem to notice as he attacked but they weren't nearly as chaotic as they had been, before. Whenever the "fight" button appeared I would press it while I dodged his attacks, and his HP fell little by little, then more and more. All the while a bit of healing magic from the souls would appear, mixed in with Flowey's assault. He didn't seem to notice that, either.

He kept attacking, and so did I. I would wait patiently for a chance to strike, then stab with the quickness of a viper. I rushed in with my fists, bobbing and weaving like a boxer. I danced with the grace of a swan before stomping the life out of Flowey's vines. I commanded paper planes to fly out of a notebook and into his face. I used frying pans to cook up some piping-hot pain. And I stared him down like a gunman at high noon before blasting him away.

His HP was falling lower, and lower, until…!

I did it! My final attack struck and his HP was gone! He screamed into the dark.

"No… NO! This CAN'T be happening! You… YOU…"

FILE LOADED

He had the biggest expletive-inducing grin I'd ever seen on his face as he restored his health and called me an idiot. I was low on HP barely noticed him saving the file before vines tore me in half. My soul didn't even have time to shatter completely before he loaded the file and I was alive again, only for a beam of light to vaporize me. He repeated this again, and again, and again, and again.

Even as he did, I asked myself "why?" Why was he doing this? Why did he seem to derive such sick enjoyment out of tormenting me? What had happened to him to make him this way?

He loaded one last time. He surrounded me with his bullet cage as he spoke. "Hee hee hee. Did you really think you could defeat ME!? I am the GOD of this world, and YOU? You're HOPELESS. Hopeless and alone… Your WORTHLESS friends can't help you now."

He scoffed. "Go ahead. Call for help, I DARE you. Cry into the darkness! 'Mommy! Daddy! Somebody help!' See what good it does you!"

I was exhausted and kneeling, but I found the strength to fill my lungs and call for help…

Flowey chuckled softly. "But nobody came. Boy, what a shame! Now nobody else will get to watch you DIE!" He cackled maniacally as his cage closed in… But the bullets disappeared and my health was restored! Flowey was confused.

"What? How'd you…? Fine, I'll just…"

LOAD FAILED

He was looking scared, now. "Wh… Where are my powers!?" There was a flash, and the six souls surrounded him. "Wh… What are they doing?"

I stood. "Don't you get it? Somebody came, after all. They're here to take back what's theirs."

"Wha…? But how could-?" The souls started circling and Flowey started screaming in denial, trying and failing to command the souls. The magic that had warped his body was being drained right out of him…

In a flash, it was all over. A limp and bedraggled flower was all that I saw before me, and I was faced with a choice. I could attack him… or show him mercy.

I took a deep breath, raised my right hand… and chose mercy.

He sounded tired, and barely turned his face toward me as he said, "… What are you doing? You think I've learned anything from all this? No." He lowered his head, and I chose mercy once again.

"Sparing me won't change anything. Killing me is the only way."

Mercy. He turned his face to me, trying to scare me. "If you let me live, I'll come back."

Mercy. "I'll kill you." Mercy. "I'll kill everyone." Mercy. "I'll kill everyone you love."

Again and again, I chose mercy. He just became more and more confused.

"Why are you being so nice to me? I can't understand. I can't understand! I just can't understand…!"

He ran away, and I was alone. The only thing in the dark I could see was an archway, not unlike the one that had taken me out of the Ruins. I couldn't see a way back to the throne room…

With no other choice, all I could do was move forward.